VOA慢速英语2015 Report Suggests Sudan May Be Arming Rebels in South Sudan

 AS IT IS 2015-06-06 Report Suggests Sudan May Be Arming Rebels in South Sudan

The United Nations is closely watching developments in South Sudan. The UN refugee agency says heavy fighting and a lack of food in two South Sudanese states are forcing more people to flee their homes. It says more than 100,000 people have been displaced over the past two months.

The government in neighboring Sudan has denied it is involved in the South Sudan conflict. But a new report suggests Sudan’s government may be supplying arms to the rebel opposition¹ in the South by airdrop. The report says the supposed flow of weapons has helped fuel the fighting.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, but a civil war started less than two years later. South Sudan’s military and opposition forces first clashed in December 2013.

The new report comes from a private group called Conflict Armament Research, which is based in Britain. Its members investigate arms trafficking and use of weapons in armed conflicts.

The report describes in detail the weapons that the military, also known as the SPLA, seized from the opposition last year. It says the SPLA captured about 300 rounds of small-caliber² ammunition³ and some larger artillery⁴ in Jonglei state from the rebels. Markings on much of the ammunition suggest it was made in Sudan in the past few years.

Jonah Leff is the director of operations for Conflict Armament Research. He says the manufacturing dates suggest Sudan is directly involved in supplying the rebels.

“Most likely any ammunition manufactured in 2014 most likely hasn’t changed hands many times, which suggests, like in previous years, that Sudan may have supplied this ammunition directly to the SPLA in opposition.”

His group says some of the ammunition rounds were manufactured in China. It says they appear similar to those used in a rebel attack on an Islamic religious center in April 2014. The United Nations says 287 civilians⁵ were killed in the attack.

The report says the supplies must have been dropped from the air. Jonah Leff says this finding was based on the damage found on some of the ammunition.

“The impact, once the equipment hits the ground, even if it's packaged in crates⁶, sustains some damage. So we noticed, for instance, with the small caliber ammunition, some of the rounds were bent⁷ and misfigured. The larger ammunition were stored in tubes that had also bent and jammed up so that you weren't even able to open them.”

Mr. Leff says the researchers are almost sure the ammunition was dropped by air. But he adds that they cannot confirm that it came from Sudanese aircraft.

Sudan’s government has repeatedly denied reports it is arming the South Sudanese rebels. The government says it has no interest in deepening the conflict in South Sudan.

The new report, however, notes that some of the ammunition documented is similar to equipment Sudan has supplied to rebel groups in the past.

Fighting in South Sudan has intensified⁸ in recent weeks as the SPLA and rebels battle for control of oil fields in Upper Nile state.

The African Union recently expressed support for a United Nations call for a ban on arms exports to South Sudan as a way to stop the conflict. The AU also supported actions to punish those responsible for the violence.

Words in This Story

displaced – v. to remove from the usual place; to take the position of something

airdrop – n. the action of providing supplies from an airplane

trafficking – n. the illegal trade or movement of something

rounds – n. ammunition containing the parts necessary to fire one shot

previous – adj. former; in the past

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。

3 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

8 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》